Orion, Goldman Sachs expand custody tech with AI onboarding

RIABiz reports that Orion, which it identifies as a $6.6-trillion RIA outsourcer based in Omaha, has rolled out an AI-powered digital account opening tool, with Goldman Sachs Custody Solutions as the first custodian live on it.

The tool was built in-house over the past year, according to Todd Bertucci, executive vice president at Orion Advisor Technology. It will be available to Orion Portfolio Solutions clients later this summer and to additional custodial partners later this year, reflecting Orion's multi-custodial approach.

Orion and Goldman collaborated on two hackathons in 2025 to streamline account opening. Goldman Sachs already serves as an RIA custodian for Orion, which manages $211 billion in wealth management assets; the relationship now covers Orion OCIO, custom indexing, and Portfolio Solutions, with Goldman Sachs Asset Management providing fixed income SMA strategies. RIABiz notes Orion is the second user of Goldman's custody API, after Amplify launched its own 'Custody Command Layer' on the platform.

The partnership marks an escalation in the custody-tech arms race, with AI-driven onboarding becoming a key differentiator for both technology providers and custodians. Orion's multi-custodial stance means the tool could eventually pressure other custodians to match the integration depth Goldman has achieved.

But RIABiz's headline suggests that shared large RIA clients may still prefer to build their own API pipes rather than adopt a platform's standardized onboarding. That would limit the tool's reach at the top of the RIA market, even as it helps democratize efficient onboarding for mid-size firms.

This is less a custody deal and more a technology play. Orion is positioning account opening as a core platform feature, while Goldman is using the integration to prove its custody API can attract major fintech partners. The two-hackathon collaboration signals deeper engineering ties than typical vendor-custodian relationships.

Watch whether Orion extends the AI tool to competing custodians in the coming months. If it does, Goldman's 'first live' designation becomes a reference point, not a moat. The real test will be whether RIAs trust an AI-led onboarding process over building their own API layers.

Orion plans to deliver the digital account opening tool to Orion Portfolio Solutions clients later this summer, with additional custodial partners slated for later in the year, according to RIABiz.